It has the potential to eat up tons of time, scheduling it into your day means adding an extra activity into a crowded schedule, and the learning curve can be high depending on how technically savvy you are. So why get into social media? Customers!

Don’t think of social media as an online time waster, instead, think of it as digital networking. There are tons of people for you to connect with. By skipping out on social media, you could be skipping out on an enormous number of new customers. Here are some specifics:

-Facebook has more than 400 million users. A bit of perspective: there are 300 million people in the United States. The average Facebook user has 130 friends and is connected to 60 pages, groups and events.

-There are nearly 12 million Twitter users. About 65 percent of them are under 25. Women make up 53 percent of the user base.

That’s a huge market! Before you get too excited, remember that this is digital networking, not digital door-to-door sales. Don’t spam users with links and useless content. It’s like real networking–connect with people and engage them. Send useful links and take part in conversations. The benefit over face-to-face networking is that you can break up the conversation over time, you can connect to multiple networks at once, and you can do it from anywhere.

These days you can do just about everything online. From taking care of your finances–using online banking–to writing documents and creating presentations–using things like Google Docs–it’s all online. It used to be that when you bought a new computer you also had to buy word processing software, music software, picture editing tools, and more. You can do all of that and more online and keep your desktop clean of clutter. Now you can even manage your Mary Kay business online–every part of it. Why ditch bulky desktop programs in favor of the internet? Here are a couple of reasons:

-With online programs, you don’t have to worry about backing up your data. If your computer crashes all of your information is safe.

-You can use an online program on any computer, and in some cases, on your smart phone.

-Web software developers can push updates and fixes to the program to users faster and more efficiently than desktop developers. Instead of sending out download CDs or new versions every couple of years, web developers can send out updates as soon as they are ready. That way everyone is using the most up to date version of the program at all times.

-Good web developers employ the latest virus blockers and firewalls for your safety. It might seem like a desktop program is safer, but many of them are open for easy attack.

-Your desktop program can’t do it all. You might have to use several different programs to do everything one online program can do.

-Desktop software often comes with a set number of (expensive) licenses, limiting how many times and how many computers you can install it. An online computer can be used on any computer.

Those are just a few of the perks of using UnitWise. The best part about online programs is that most of them let you try them out for a while. You can sign up for UnitWise today and try it free for 15 days!

Have you been to UnitWise lately? If so, you may have noticed we changed some things around. The site now has a fresh summer look, with vibrant colors and floral accents. The changes aren’t just cosmetic though, we’ve added a number of improvements to the site. Here are just a few:

Social Media Updates
We’ve made a number of great improvements to the social media section:
-Your website now has vertical navigation for all your pages–a neat and tidy solution for those of you with dozens of pages
-Your website can now display your Twitter feed (if you’ve linked your Twitter account to UnitWise)
-You can now password protect pages! Make pages just for your Unit!
-You can upload photos and documents to your website and access them whenever you want through your image library.

Others
We’ve made a variety of usability improvements that speed up the program and make it easier to use. We’re also hard at a work on a new help system that will be even more helpful–loaded with tons of informative tidbits and videos.

This is just the tip of the iceberg folks! There are more changes and updates coming this summer! If you’d like to check out UnitWise, feel free to email us and set up a live demo, or sign up now for 15 days free!

Just because you’re using a program that is based on your desktop, doesn’t mean it’s safe from hackers and viruses. In some cases, desktop programs have lower security than online programs because they don’t have to stay updated against all the latest viruses. Here are some things you can do to protect your business information:

Password Protection

If the programs or websites you use offer password protection, use it! Make sure your password is not obvious, you’d be amazed the amount of passwords out there that are simply “password.” A good password includes a few letters at least one number and at least one special character, something like @ or $.

Financial info

Make sure your financial information, and your customer financial information, is safe and encrypted. Some desktop programs store payment information in text format or easy-to-access files. If someone stole or hacked into your computer, they shouldn’t be able to find that information easily (or at all). If someone steals the credit cards of your clients, you could be held responsible. Unitwise has exclusive integration with ProPay’s new ProtectPay system, so payment and credit card information is encrypted and secure.

Back it up!

If your computer suddenly melted today, what would happen to all your business information? Would you still have it? It’s important to back up your information on a routine basis. Use a portable hard drive, DVDs, or an online storage solution. If you use UnitWise, you never have to worry about losing your information, it’s available anywhere, any time. Power outage? Fried hard drive? No worries with UnitWise.